In Your Box:

• Basil
• Broccolini
• Carrots
• Cucumber or summer squash
• Garlic, “Purple Glazer”
• Head lettuce
• Kale, “Red Russian”
• Sweet onion
• Tomatoes
• Sweet pepper

Farm News

This Labor Day, I was especially struck with how different the holiday feels when you’re a middle aged farmer compared to a middle schooler. Our oldest, Nathan, is off to 7th grade this week. For me at his age, Labor Day was a day of doom. Summer is over. I’d have to start sleeping normal hours. I had a locker combination and a schedule to memorize. Did my Trapper Keeper still work? How could I possibly look so much goofier than last year? Labor Day was a mess, with all the trauma of a year of middle school just around the corner.

Now, a farmer in glorious middle age, Labor Day is the best. Hot and humid weather is behind us, and we’re blessed with comfortable working weather as far as the forecast can foresee. Everyone in my family is off to school this week, so I won’t have to step on Legos when I come in for water. No one will walk a quarter mile into the fields just to tell me they’re bored. And the nights are getting noticeably longer, which means I don’t have any obligation to stay out working until 10pm. Life is good. I couldn’t have guessed it, but middle age is much better than middle school.

After today’s box, the harvest season is now two-thirds of the way complete. We have six weeks to go yet, and the fields are still brimming with crops for those last few boxes. We hope you enjoy the rest of the growing year!

This week’s box

This week’s garlic is a variety called “Purple Glazer.” You’ll notice that Purple Glazer has more cloves than the Music variety had a couple weeks back, though they’re smaller. Purple Glazer is great for everyday use and will store well into the spring. With its purple striping, it also makes a great decoration if you’re not a fan of eating it!

Tomatoes continue to come in well, though it looks like we’re getting past the peak of their season. We’ve had great success with orange tomatoes this year, which are some of my favorites. They aren’t quite as acidic as red tomatoes, which gives them a sweeter flavor. We grow two varieties of orange tomatoes, “Valencia” and “Moonglow.” Both are heirlooms, and usually one will outperform the other. But this year both seem to be really happy and are cranking out the fruits.

Roasted Carrots and Broccolini

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lbs carrots
• 1 lbs broccolini
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• sea salt salt
• pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Wash carrots and broccolini well and dry with a kitchen towel.
3. Cut thick carrots lengthwise and leave thin ones as is. Pieces should not be thicker than your thumb.
4. In a small saucepan, melt butter and once melted, add minced garlic, sea salt, and pepper and mix until well combined.
5. Place carrots in one layer on a baking sheet and brush with half the garlic butter. Then place in the oven for 10 minutes.
6. In the meantime, cut any broccolini with thick stems in half lengthwise and then add to the remaining garlic butter and use your hands to work all the garlic butter into the broccolini.
7. Remove the carrots from the oven and add the broccolini to it in one layer, then return into the oven for a further 25 minutes.

Coming up

We are expecting celery, broccolini, tat soi, head lettuce, carrots, summer squash or cucumbers, sweet onions, tomatoes, and sweet peppers.